


The Weight of a Whisper

by FruitfulMink13



Category: The Incredible Hulk (Comics), Thor (Comics)
Genre: Alternate Timelines, Alternate Universe - Future
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-14
Updated: 2020-08-14
Packaged: 2021-03-06 07:00:24
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,051
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25889236
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FruitfulMink13/pseuds/FruitfulMink13
Summary: Centuries into the future, an immortal Bruce Banner seeks out the missing Thor to aid humanity in the coming battle with a sinister force. However, much has changed since Thor's disappearance, not least of all is Thor himself.





	The Weight of a Whisper

**Author's Note:**

> Author's Notes: For context, this is based on a hypothetical timeline shown in King Thor #4 where goes through a variety of physical changes over the course of eons.
> 
> Due to its far future setting, I thought Immortal Bruce Banner would be an interesting protagonist; it's been a couple centuries with some unusual psychological developments, so that's my excuse for any out-of-character bits. I like the idea that he embraced the study of occult mysticism. I also wanted a legacy character and figured Silver Sable doesn't get a ton of love, so I went with Sablinova over any Stark, Wakandan, Richards, or Pym descendants.
> 
> It's not my best work. I wanted to do more revisions, but this was kind of a rush job. I prefer writing original works and knew I wouldn't be able to focus on that until I wrapped a bow on this, so here it is.

“We’ve hit a gravity storm, Dr. Banner. No visual on the source,” came a voice from the comms, already falling to static.

“I have some ideas about the source. Carry my request to continue on our current course to Admiral Sablinova.”

A pause. “Yes, doctor.”

Hesitance. They really should’ve learned to trust him by now. Centuries past and still the monster. He’s considered reading them the Allegory in the Cave. Maybe then they’ll realize all the monsters they’ve seen are just shadows; the real monsters are outside, unseen by all but him, until now.

His door opened. Angela Sablinova, current holder of the Silver Sable mantle and the CEO of Sablinova Transversal. Banner met her decades ago when she was still gallivanting around in silver combat gear with the Spider-Family; nowadays she left the crime-fighting and mercenary work for the new generation. “Dr. Banner, I’ve put much trust and funds into this experiment of yours.”

“Expedition, Admiral. There are no errors in my calculations. I promise.”

“Errors, no. Just unexplained variables,” she said, tossing a holo-pad onto his desk. An equation of hard-light bloomed from the paper-thin device. “Our A.I. headcase has noticed some extra puzzle pieces. She’s a tad confused of their relevance.”

A face appeared in the projection. A woman’s face. Valeria Richards. Not the genuine article, of course, she had passed away peacefully centuries ago. This was just a replication of the most advanced human mind in history. “Yes, Dr. Banner. Key variables lack any definable purpose. Might you explain them to me?”

Banner's gaze lingered on the manifested A.I. for only a moment. “We are not tracking a planetary body ripped from its orbit. We are searching for a piece of divinity. These variables were attained through occult means, to put it lightly.”

“From the plane designated the Hell Below All, I presume?”

“Few squares above it, but you’re in the ballpark.”

The A.I. paused, its expression static. Finally it spoke. “Accepted.”

“What?” Sablinova said. “How is that ‘accepted’? He got these variables from Hell?”

“Scans of Dr. Banner’s brain chemistry and sequential body language have assured me of the veracity of his intent. As for his expertise, Dr. Banner possesses greater knowledge of the chthonic realms than any human other than the Council of Sorcerer Supremes. While I am not programmed with an advanced understanding of mythic symbols, all files on Dr. Banner point towards his own understanding to be satisfactory.”

And with that, the projection blinked away, leaving only the labyrinthine equation suspended in the air. “Happy?” Dr. Banner said. “We’ve hardly been allies, but we both know that we need to find Thor.”

The Admiral rubbed her eyes. “I hate magic. I hate super-science. I hate A.I.’s. I hate you and I’m starting to hate Thor.”

Banner chuckled.

The ship rocked, the sound of metal creaking. Alarms blared. Banner thinks he heard Sablinova speaking with someone on comms. But it was background noise, suppressed by a sensation. Not physical, no, but an unseen ripple. A divine presence was near and it was angry.

“Window, open!” he said. Metal slid soundlessly, the view of space opening before them. Banner had expected a torrent of ultraviolet sunlight from the system’s binary stars; instead the light formed a ring around a dark, spherical shape: a dark planet crowned by starlight. “That wasn’t there before.” Banner’s voice was low and hollow.

The Admiral took notice. “Did that planet just sneak up on us?” she shouted. “Control, get us away from that thing until it nabs us in its gravity well.”

“This is our destination, Admiral,” Dr. Banner said. “We just need to figure out how to—”

“I recognize your stench, foul creature,” a voice boomed in Banner’s mind. “Gamma uncontrolled, fear trailing ever in your wake. Your very form is a mockery of the divine.”

If Banner could still feel fear, it would’ve frozen his heart deathly silent. “Thor, I know that’s you. This is Dr. Banner. I came to find you.”

“Banner? Dr. Banner was a troubled man, aye, but he was a good man. Your impersonation of him only adds further transgressions.” The air grew hot, sparks coursed where they could, until space tore open in front of them. A gateway, charged with energies the universe has not felt since the fall of Thor. “If you wish to feel the weight of your sins, come. I will bury you beneath them.”

The burning portal surged forward. To the human eye, it was a ring of fire that carried a wormhole, a thin shimmer of spacetime; to Banner’s eyes, however, it looked ancient and heavy, a thing older than the flames carrying it. His human senses failed him. The light blinded him, he smelled only burning metal. Even his sense of touch was numbed by the lightning that passed through him. Only senses unnatural endured; those he retained from the Devil within. Magic pushing back like wind, like a storm.

It was only after several, long seconds that his vision returned as the portal died away. Before him lay a grey, barren landscape, teeth of stone had broken through the surface and mountains scarred the land. And all above, brewed a terrible storm.

Sablinova felt the breath in her lungs burn. She scrambled for her respirator at her hip. Her vision was blurry and black, her breath short and frantic.

“Breathe,” a voice commanded. A chill wrapped itself around her, cool relief filling her lungs. Her first breath hurt, her second only felt strained. Her third breath came free and painless. “I sense no trace of the devil’s influence upon you, mortal. Still I must ask: who are you and why do you stand with a son of evil? Say that you were misled, if it be true, and you shall be sequestered to your home peacefully. But I warn you, I was raised alongside one who told as many lies as there are stars in the sky; I will only hear the truth.”

“Listen,” she said, still catching her breath. “I don’t like Banner. He’s arrogant and egocentric for a start and my crew has a bet for how much longer before I toss him out the airlock, but he’s on the side of the angels on this one.”

“I believe you and I have different experiences with angels. Regardless, you cannot see the evil inhabiting Banner’s body. The man that was Bruce Banner is gone. Something evil wears him as a puppet and I intend to exorcise that evil, by howling winds or hammer-strikes.”

“No!” She felt silly, shouting at the wind, but the voice, when it spoke, was all around her. “We need him and we need you, so just listen to me.”

There was silence, save for distant thunder; Sablinova could feel a shift in the temperature, as if it were being directed elsewhere. “I’m sorry, but I believe our battle is about to begin. I must devote my energies to the fight ahead. When this devil is gone from my lands, then I will return you home.”

The voice was gone. Damn it, she thought. The sky cracked with spears of lightning over the horizon, where it roared more frequently. She knew it was there she’d meet her host.

The air around Banner burned long after the lightning struck. His flesh knit itself together; bones, tendons, skin. It was slower than it used to be, but no less persistent. “You can’t kill me, Thor. I just want to talk.”

“Speak over the thunder, creature. The truth is often iron-hard and I will hear it ring.” The storm still raged, but it was not aimed at him for now.

“Earth needs you,” Banner said quickly. “Something big is coming. You sensed me, you can sense it.”

“I can. It is powerful, but distant.”

“No, that is its nature. It is of Oblivion. Even when it is upon us, it feels an eternity away.”

“Your words ring true. But why should I spare one great evil to slay another when mine is the power to rend and rake?”

The oxygen within the air ignited. Banner spoke anyway. “Just come meet me, face-to-face. You’ll see I’m not the devil you think I am.”

The thunder growled. “Persistent. Very well, the son of Odin shall meet you.” The earth beneath Banner quaked with uproarious motions, plates grinded together, rupturing its surface. A fissure broke the crust in twine. Finally, a hand breached the surface. But the figure that rose forth was not one of flesh, mortal or godly. The lightning shone off its metallic skin, but it bore the familiar face of Thor. “Well? What have you to say?”

“What happened to you?”

“Gods change. Gone is the warrior borne of Asgardian flesh. Now I am like my mother Gaea; a world formed around me, imbued with my power and my mind.”

“You mean—?”

“I am the ground you tread upon. I am the air you breathe. I am the metal forged from time and pressure. And as always, I am the storm overhead. The question is: what are you?”

“I am Dr. Banner.”

“You reek of Hell. I see the Devil I saw in you centuries ago, but it has grown darker, stronger.”

“It’s also grown quiet, hasn’t it?”

The simulacrum was silent, its metallic visage contemplative. “It has. But has it truly grown content under your control or is it merely biding its time, waiting until you are vulnerable?”

“I can’t assure anything. But if it’s the latter, then you’re one of the few that can probably kill it, under the right circumstances. But if it’s the former, if I am truly in control, then you would be killing an innocent man. Wouldn’t you?”

The lightning crashed between them, showing the frustration that the figure could not. “You ... speak true.” Though clouds persisted, the air quieted, the lightning retreated back into the blackened sky. Thor’s was calm, though it still carried the weight of a world with it. “What horrors do you face that you must seek me out? You have risked much coming here, Dr. Banner, bringing the Devil before a slumbering god.”

“I was hoping to speak to you aboard Sablinova’s craft, but that might prove difficult.”

“My voice can reach you a system away. I will return you to your ship in a moment, once your compatriot arrives.”

At his word, Sablinova crested the hill, the anti-gravity pack pulsing to a stop; she lingered in the air above them, waiting. “I’m not going to get caught in the middle of some cataclysmic war right now, am I?”

“Not this day, no, but if Dr. Banner’s worry is genuine, I fear war will meet all of us in time,” the sky said.

The Admiral studied the figure of metal before her. “Thor? You look shinier than I was expecting.”

“An avatar, you could call it. My true body lies beneath, but I believe we all have explanations owed. For now, I will return you to your ship and then you may guide me to where I am needed.”

Before she could react, the air sizzled around her, followed by a familiar flash. Long, blinding seconds later, she found herself on the bridge of her ship; shouts of concern from nearby officers were raised and silenced immediately. “Shut up and let me get my bearings, all of you,” she commanded.

She turned to the observation window where Banner stood, his clothes singed but his flesh unmarred. He was looking at the planet—at Thor. “You might want to see this, Admiral Sablinova.”

Even from orbit, she saw the storms rise, the lightning carving at the stonework. Lines of superheated crust cracked away as chunks of the planet’s surface peeled away. One-by-one, stone was burned and brushed aside, revealing a world of metal and thunder. Lightning coursed freely around its surface. The discarded continents smashed together forming mighty moons, as lightning seared a symbol onto their surfaces as well. A symbol she had seen before.

“That fuckin’ hammer,” she whispered.

“Still hate us, Admiral?” Dr. Banner.

The Admiral was rarely shocked, but sometimes, the world surprised her. “The big ones growing on me.”

Finally, Thor spoke. “Guide me, friends. I would have words with the injustices of this world.”

**Author's Note:**

> An image of Thor the Thunderworld can be found in King Thor #4. As soon as I saw it, I knew I had to write something. Hopefully I did it a modicum of justice. Cheers.


End file.
